Disclaimer: POTC is not my squishy, I cannot call it mine.
"Come on, luv!" Jack followed her around the deck as she lowered the cannon ports. Squirrel sighed dramatically, loud enough so it would be heard over the sound of drunken revelry from below decks.
"I had enough trouble taking the Interceptor to Tortuga with Will Turner helpin'! How'd you control the Pearl all by yerself?"
Squirrel smiled, then turned to face her captain. "I wasn't by myself." Her smile became slightly saddened. "I had some help."
"Who from?" Jack said, eyes lighting up. He'd finally got her to answer him.
Squirrel looked out over the sea, then walked across the deck and up the stairs. She leant on the railing and stared at the steering wheel. Jack came up beside her, and stared as well.
Anamaria's sou'wester hung on one of the spokes, as though left there by the owner. It flapped gently in the breeze. Jack put his arms around Squirrel's shoulders, and Squirrel realised there were tears rolling down her face. She sobbed gently.
"Anamaria." Jack smiled. "So you had some help from her, did you, luv?"
Squirrel nodded, then wiped away her tears. "She's still here, you know. Just like a-all the others. And as long as you want to chase the h-horizon, as long as you need freedom, the Black Pearl will always answer your c-call."
Jack and Squirrel stood in silence for a moment, both of them watching Anamaria's sou'wester, then they both turned and went below and see their son again.
A sudden wave sent up a plume of spray as the figurehead of the Black Pearl lead the way through the sea. The timbers creaked, the sails flapped and the crew below sang and drank. But there was another noise. It was a humming, a subtle energy that showed itself in a soft sound, like a song. And in that song echoed the voices of those who had sailed before.
A sudden gust of wind whipped the sails of the Black Pearl, and Ana's hat was dislodged from its place on the wheel. It whisked over the deck, flapping in the breeze, before fluttering out over the sea.
Inigo felt like he'd been rowing for an eternity. But every time he stopped, and looked up, he was sure he could see the dark ship, the one with the black sails, chasing him. Three days and three nights without food or water can make a man hallucinate. Fear can play tricks on the mind.
He barely felt his rowboat crash against something. The Spaniard just kept rowing, not noticing the ropes dropping into his boat, nor the figures that slid down them.
"The Black Pearl." The delirious Inigo muttered through cracked and bloody lips. "Coming. Cursed ship. Ghost ship. Black Pearl."
Inigo's oars drew back and forth, even as the boat was pulled into the air and gently swung over the deck of the ship. The crew waited patiently for a moment, waiting to see if the Spaniard would climb out, but when it became apparent he would not, someone roughly overturned the small lifeboat.
Inigo sprawled over the deck, woken from his nightmare. He kissed the deck and raised his arms to the sky, thanking his unseen rescuers.
"Well, well, well." A woman's voice, mocking and laughing, echoed across the deck and rang in Inigo's ears. "What have we got here?"
The Spaniard looked up into the face of his rescuers, managed a frightened and feeble smile, and croaked, "Parley?"
A/N: The idea that Ana passes away after Johnny's birth was so firmly stuck in my mind that it's almost become canon in the JackSquirrel-iverse. But yes, she sticks around. The 'spirit-guide', if you will.And three guesses who finds that stinking rat Inigo. I'll give you a hint… she sails on the Salted Slaver…
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!